Cincinnati Bengals running back Chris Evans is about to get a new perspective on speed.
The former high school track star at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis, who played college football at the University of Michigan, will ride in the Fastest Seat in Sports for today's The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Presented by the 2023 Accord Hybrid (1:30 p.m. ET, USA Network, Peacock, INDYCAR Radio Network).
INDYCAR’s Fastest Seat in sports is a high-speed, high-octane, super-charged thrill ride in a custom INDYCAR SERIES car with a special back passenger seat. At almost every race on the schedule, the car advances the field of drivers to the start/finish line to signify the beginning of the race, with a special passenger in the guest seat. Previous participants in the Fastest Seat in Sports include Lady Gaga, NBA champions Steph Curry and Kawhi Leonard, Olympic gold medalists Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Lilly King, actors Simu Liu and Channing Tatum, and many others.
Evans’ ceremonial role at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course will reunite him with the Indianapolis-based series, which is based just a few miles from where he starred as a prep sprinter, long jumper and versatile football player. INDYCAR’s headquarters and Ben Davis High School are located 4 miles apart, and Evans will travel about that far in the Fastest Seat in Sports as the car works its way around the 13-turn, 2.258-mile permanent road course near Lexington, Ohio.
Evans’ other connection to North America’s top open-wheel series is his college football coach, Jim Harbaugh, a former INDYCAR SERIES team co-owner with Panther Racing which won season championships in 2001 and 2002 with Ohio-born Sam Hornish Jr. driving the car. Hornish also won a stock car race at Mid-Ohio in 2017 while driving for Team Penske, which is fielding three cars in this weekend’s race – for drivers Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Scott McLaughlin -- and is owned by INDYCAR chairman Roger Penske. Newgarden won this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, and he and Power are two-time INDYCAR SERIES season champions.
Evans, a Super Bowl LVI participant in 2022 with the Bengals, will soon embark on his third NFL season. Last year, Evans caught a game-winning 8-yard touchdown in the Bengals’ 27-24 regular-season victory over the Kansas City Chiefs, the team which went on to win the Super Bowl.
The NTT INDYCAR SERIES represents the ultimate challenge in racing, with drivers competing at speeds of 200-plus mph across a demanding set of ovals and road and street courses. Sunday’s race is the ninth of the season.